Ancient Horses?
by Seanait
Summary: It's a shootoff form an orginal story, but you dont have to know about that other story, just a SG1 fan. Mild Language
1. How ya doin?

Alternate ending for the Cursed Blessing:

Well that's the real name of this story because it's another ending to an original story of mine called the Cursed Blessing. I made up another name for it because who's gonna read something called the _Alternate Ending for the Cursed Blessing_? But honestly, you DON'T HAVE TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE CURSED BLESSING TO READ THIS STORY, just a Stargate fan. On to the disclaimer:

Stargate SG-1 belongs to MGM studios and Gekko Inc. Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, and General Hammond are not mine, unfortunately... I will give them back, maybe with some minor bumps and bruises, but nothing Dr. Frasier can't cure. I'm not getting paid for this story, etc. On with the story!

Shoop! Suddenly, it was dark and mystical Axl was gone. Instead, on its shores, lay four green people. Three of them were male and one mare. They were oddly colored and spoke in hushed tones amongst themselves.

"Well, it looks like... well to be honest, a bunch of err... horses."

"Not just any horses, look at this one, it's dark green with gold hooves."

"Are not such equines common on your planet?" the dark brown stallion asked his desmas and the mare responded.

"No, they're not." Freya awoke to see that they were shaped as she was, stood on their hind legs, and used their forelegs for carrying things like the oddly shaped logs. She had never met another human before because, as her father had told her, no other humans lived in or around the meadows of the Chosen. She took her chances. Freya got up to greet the strangers. She stood in front of the stallion with gray in his mane while he was looking around curiously. She waited for him to notice her. When he turned back around, she seemed to have been a specter because she'd appeared out of nowhere. Freya could tell that she had spooked the strong stallion.

"Hello," Freya offered strongly, but still very quietly. She bowed her head as a sign of greeting she'd seen the elders do when delegations came from the other herds. The dark brown stallion bowed his head in return. The gray one eyed him oddly. He turned around to face the last stallion quickly. With a curious little shake of his head, he asked the other stallion something in a dialect similar to her own.

"Daniel? It's all yours." Now it was her turn to be shocked. Daniel was the name of her father! Without thinking, she plunged on ahead, despite the consequences of her folks and the rest of the herd.

"I am Freya of the Touched Chosen of Thor, out of Eytan Ryhenna of Aderyn and Daniel of Midgaard." The gray one drew his head back in mild surprise, the mare widened her eyes, the one named Daniel did both and muttered a small "oh?" The brown one remained stoic. The sudden outburst of information surprised the group. Not all people were this... outgoing when they were met. Daniel was surprise at the use of his name the most. Was it just convenient for him to find a 'Daniel of Midgaard,' Midgaard being the name for the Norse 'Earth.' Not only that, but these people, what ever they are, worshipped Thor, maybe they could be allies.

"Um, Jack, I believe..." Daniel was cut off.

"Not now Daniel, no mythological stuff, okay?" the gray stallion, Jack, pleaded. Daniel held his tongue. Freya looked at the bickerers and continued.

"You must be silent, but it is almost morning. Soon you will be able to talk with my parents, but you must tell me, did you come out of the Axl?" Jack, looked noncommittally over his shoulder at the Axl. He looked back at his friends and they exchanged looks. Then the yellow mare answered the question.

"Uh, yeah, we came through the Stargate..."

------------------------------------

Several hours before, in the SGC...

"Jack, this looks like a good planet!" Daniel whined again.

"Daniel, look at the probe. It slid BACK into the gate!" Jack answered again. They'd been at this for about ten minutes. Finally Carter had had enough.

"Sir! Daniel! How 'bout we sit down and stop bickering about it."

Jack pointed at her. "She's a smart girl you know." Daniel shrugged noncommittally. They sat down and Carter went over the facts.

"We know that the MALP slid back into the gate after reaching the other side. We also know that this is one of the planets put in by the Colonel after we found the Ancient database..." Carter trailed off as O'Neill gave an involuntary shudder. They had all gathered in Sam's lab to discuss the M.A.L.P. telemetry and the possibility of going, and Daniel and Jack had started this thing. Sam continued. "We calculate that the Stargate is lying at a twenty degree angle by the time it took the MALP to slid back in the gate. Also, we know that at the speed the gate is entered, is the speed the gate is exited." They all remembered the time when Freya/Anise of the Tok'ra came to 'enhance their strength' and things had gotten a little bit out of control.

"So your point is major?" Jack inquired sarcastically.

"My point is that we might be able to do this, if General Hammond agrees this mission of course..."

"Which he won't because it's NUTS!" Jack said, violently gesturing about.

"Have we not done things you have considered 'nuts' before, O'Neill?" the big Jaffa inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but this is different," Jack retorted.

"How so?" Jack looked bewildered and frustrated. He didn't bother answering Teal'c's question. Daniel was looking at Jack expectantly, all innocence, as he scratched his cheek.

"Whadda you looking at?"

"Oh nothing."

----------------

Minutes later, Jack found himself mumbling and grumbling to General Hammond about the mission with the rest of SG-1.

"Sir?" Jack whined loudly. Hammond looked at his 2IC with a small glare. He turned back around to Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c.

"Are you reasonably certain that this is the planet with the Ancient outpost?"

"No, sir, but it's worth the risk," Sam responded.

Teal'c cocked his eyebrow. "Any number of plants may contain the outpost of the Ancients, General Hammond. It would be wise to search any planet for any sign of it," Teal'c put in stoically.

"Sir?!?" Jack pleaded again. Hammond spun around to view him in the chair.

"Yes Colonel?"

"Are you meaning to tell me that you're going to authorize this insane mission, sir?" The general chuckled slightly. He could see from where Jack was coming from, but this planet relied on SG-1 finding the outpost and not Anubis. Getting out of the gate was the hard part though.

"Major, if I proceed with the mission and SG-1 goes through; may I ask how you're going to get _out_ of the gate?" Hammond inquired. Carter stood up with a remote in her hand.

"Well sir, we know that an object that goes through the gate at a certain velocity comes out at the same velocity." She paused and hit a button on the remote and it turned on the T.V. next to her. The video was darkened, like it was shot at dusk. Through the camera, the team could see a couple golden trees around the area. Suddenly the camera started to slip backwards and the signal was lost. After the video finished, Sam turned off the television and regained her conversation. "As you can see from the MALP tape, there are many trees within the vicinity of the gate. If one of us can't launch ourselves through, then we harpoon a tree." Sam finished her part of the briefing smartly. Hammond cocked his head like a dog.

"Is that such a great idea major? Remember what happened on...PJ2-455?" They remembered clearly. The plant the scouting UAV had hit was a key part of the native peoples' survival. Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c and become sick when they on the planet because of a sound. Luckily, SG-1 restored the 'right' sound and left the people almost the same way the group had found them. Sam nodded carefully.

"Yes, sir. That's why I suggested that we use the tree only if there is a risk that we start slipping into the event horizon." Hammond nodded strongly; Jack knew that his team was going on this mission.

"Sir, aren't you the least bit worried that we all might die?" Jack pressed. His commanding officer sighed.

"Jack, I run that risk every time I send a team through that gate. This time, I agree, has a little more risk to it, because we know what might happen, but think Jack. That weaponry is for possibly giving us the chance to save our planet!" Jack realized that he'd been only thinking of himself and his team, yes, this was under the headache of their long standing orders: to retrieve technology that would help them in the fight against the Gou'ald. But the headache was necessary if he and the other six billion people on this planet wanted to live.

"Yes, sir, I understand," O'Neill said quietly.

"Good, you leave tomorrow at 0900 hours." Hammond ordered the team. "As for now, get some rest, you're going to have some kind of a day... being launched through a gate. Dismissed." The team got up and walked out of the Debriefing Room. Normally, Jack would have stayed, but Hammond was right, he desperately needed some sleep. The colonel yawned and bid his team goodnight as he left for home.

On his way home, Jack O'Neill thought. He thought about random topics like "What's for lunch tomorrow at the SGC?" or "What the hell am I going to have for dinner?" But the relevant thoughts were more like, 'How are we going to get through the gate? Make a giant rubber band and sling-shot us through?' When he got home, he had a beer and hit the bed.

The next morning, SG-1 was back at it again. They were in the locker room gearing up for their insanely dangerous mission. The planet looked peaceful, it was just the point of entry and exit that had Jack worried. Daniel had had almost finished putting on his stuff when he walked over to O'Neill.

"Jack, you okay?" he asked quietly. Jack raised his head to look at his friend.

"Yes, I am Daniel." Before Daniel could retort, Jack asked the question that had been on his mind since they'd considered this nutcase mission. "Carter, how do you suppose we get through the gate and live to tell about it?" He cocked his head in question, waiting for an answer. Sam pulled a face on him.

"Well sir, to be honest I was thinking about running through as fast as possible. Why?"

"Swell," Jack murmured unhappily. "So very... scientific, Doctor Carter..." Jack teased softly. "And here I thought we were going to make a rubber band sling-shot." Jack left the locker room at the fastest speed possible, to avoid being hurled, not through the gate, but onto his butt by a rampaging major. That's what happened, sort of. Before the colonel got too far out of the locker room, a Carter swooped down on him congratulating him on spawning a revolutionary idea. She ran off to her lab. Jack stood there in the hallway and looked utterly bewildered. Teal'c and Daniel joined him shortly. O'Neill turned to them, silently asking for an explanation for the female whirlwind.

"I believe that Major Carter is extremely happy, O'Neill," Teal'c offered in his ultimate helpfulness.

"Ya think?"

-----------------------------------

Sam ran down the aisle to her lab. On the way, she bumped into General Hammond as she sprinted down the hallway.

"Major?" he asked as the female whirlwind stopped in the hall. Out of breathe, but very happy, she answered.

"Ask the colonel, Daniel, and Teal'c sir!" she yelled over her shoulder as she continued running again. Hammond shook his head and chuckled softly to himself. The general kept walking in the direction of from where Major Carter had come from. At the time before Carter ran him down, he was walking around the base aimlessly. At least now he could find the rest of SG-1 and ask what the scientist was up to. Minutes later, he rounded a corner and found a very odd expression on someone's face. Jack still held the confused/bewildered/utterly amazed face that he'd first had when Carter exploded in his face and took off. Hammond found the trio walking down the hall with Jack in front and Dr. Jackson and Teal'c side-by-side. Daniel looked to be in deep thought when Jack and Hammond fond each other. Jack looked at his commanding officer in amazement. Jack pointed down the hallway.

"Did you..."

"Yup," Hammond confirmed.

Jack nodded and paused dramatically as he went to speak. "What the hell was that?"

"That's what I came to ask you folks, colonel." Jack nodded like he was thinking about something.

"Yeah....sir? We folks don't know," Jack responded in his normal, cynical way. Hammond lifted his head up in acknowledgement. Jack turned to his Earth friend. "Daniel? Got any roaring ideas yet?" Daniel kept his head down as he was thinking carefully. He seemed not to hear Jack call his name. "Daniel? Oh Danny boy!" O'Neill called out again to Daniel. Finally, Daniel came out of his stupor, looked up and blinked thrice.

"What? Oh. Jack you're a genius," Daniel said in rapid succession and took off to find Sam. The remaining team members and the general blinked at each other.

"Colonel?", "General?" Jack and Hammond said together. Jack sighed exasperated. He spun to his other friend. "Teal'c?" he pleaded for an explanation.

Teal'c lifted his head up and answered Jack and Hammond. "O'Neill, I have reason to believe that both Major Carter and Doctor Jackson think that you are... a genius." O'Neill gestured at Teal'c to General Hammond.

"There you go sir. Let's go find out what the children are up to, shall we?" and O'Neill led the way to Sam's lab.

---------------------------------

Daniel hurried into Sam's lab to find her already at work. She looked up at him and smiled. "Isn't it amazing how the colonel does that?"

"You mean his random uncanny brilliance, I assume?" Daniel looked up over his glasses at Sam. Her dazzling smile graced him.

"Yeah." She stopped talking for a bit as she started to work again. Daniel was there, helping her in any way possible. She took a deep breath and confronted Daniel again. "I assume you came up with the same idea I did, right?" Daniel nodded quickly.

"Yeah, basically the same, but a little different with a few tweaks here and there," Daniel remarked. Sam lifted her eyebrows in vague amusement.

"Huh," she uttered softly, more to herself than anyone else. With that, the two 'scientists' went back to working on whatever had been inspired by O'Neill. A couple minutes went by before Colonel O'Neill, General Hammond, and Teal'c walked into the lab together, all with a perplexed look on their face. Hammond looked at the two working on this thing. O'Neill and Teal'c had filled him in about how Jack had said something about how to get through the Stargate without the risk of dying and using a giant rubber band slingshot. Hammond was about to open his mouth when O'Neill walked up behind them. He put his hands on their backs.

"So kids, how's it going?" he smiled falsely. The two team members jumped simultaneously at Jack's gentle touch.

"Sir!" Sam exclaimed quietly, in a very military-like way. Teal'c, Hammond, and Jack surrounded the workers.

"What's up major?" Hammond asked the same lady who ran him down just minutes ago. Carter turned in her chair, as did Daniel, and they explained their findings.

"Sirs, you're not going to believe this." Before she had time to continue, Jack had already inserted a word of his own.

"I know, both of you called me a genius in the span of ten minutes." Jack accompanied the statement with his best 'What's with that?' gesture. Sam smiled quickly.

"Anyway, we've been working on a project recently using atoms that when pressed together quickly, such as when you clap your hands or stomp your feet, the atoms bounce off of each other and enable the object it's attached to bounce. What I'm saying is that, we've been able to coat the bottom of our boots with a substance holding a lot of these atoms. Basically, the harder you stomp, the more 'propel' you get." Jack turned to Teal'c and General Hammond.

"Cool!" Sam smiled at her commanding officer again.

"I'm wearing a pair of boots coated in the substance right now." Sam stood up and stomped her foot hard and it bounced back up. Next Sam put her two feet together and jumped moderately. She already went higher than any person should be able to go. Unintentionally, when she came down she stomped really hard, expecting to land. Instead, because of the volatile nature of the atoms, she soared higher than Teal'c's head. Luckily for her, the ceiling in the lab was very high. "Ow!" she muttered as she hit the ceiling. This time Sam tried to soften her landing and did so successfully. After the span of about three minutes, Carter settled back on her feet. Jack, Daniel, Hammond, and Teal'c had been watching with interest for all of the minutes.

"Kinda like flubber isn't it?" Jack asked innocently. Sam nodded as if she were going to launch into a spiel.

"Yeah, sort of," was all she said though.

"What is Flubber, O'Neill?" Teal'c wanted to know.

"Put it on your long list of movies that you have to see, Teal'c!" Jack answered happily. Jack was a happy man, now that he knew that they could get through the gate without the possibility of certain death. Now, O'Neill couldn't wait to go on that mission, he was bouncing for joy; to say the least. In anticipation, he glanced at his watch; it read 08:27. It was almost time to go! "Kids, it's a half hour 'til gate time!" Jack informed them gleefully. He turned to Hammond, remembering him in the room. "Sir, permission to leave?"

"Granted, now go get finished getting ready." Hammond ordered casually. The team left and Jack's change of heart hadn't been missed by any of them. The rest of SG-1 followed Jack's bounce out of the room.

--------------------

Not much later, Sam was already in the gate room with SG-1. Sam had coated only the front of the boot since "that's where you walk, step, and jump with." The team was experimenting with the substance, with landing, walking, and jumping. Sam's idea was that they all started to bounce and then placed their feet against the wall and pushed as hard as they could. The extra energy built up from jumping around in the gate room would help propel them even farther through the gate. Even Teal'c was jumping around like a human kid on a trampoline. Hammond, up in the Control Room along with everyone else, was watching SG-1 go up and down, up and down. The general chuckled at the site of his best team jumping around like five-year-olds in a high security military base. The thought passed and Hammond ordered the technician to dial the gate. Apprehension grew in the Gate Room and the Control Room. SG-1 stopped bouncing all over the place and went straight up and came back straight down. The gate came with its familiar 'swoosh' sound and the hollering klaxons. The team looked around at each other and back to Jack. Hammond came over the microphone.

"SG-1, you have a go." O'Neill, glancing at everyone else, bounced around to get into place and put all his might into the wall. Off he went like a rubber ball being hurled against a chunk of concrete. 'Yeeha.' He thought as he hurtled through the gate at top speed. Actually, the rush was kinda fun. In record time, he was thrown out of the gate, unceremoniously, and flew over a couple feet of ground before landing with a thump.

"Ow." He'd landed on his P-90. Jack crawled a little ways away from the gate to avoid being landed on. Out came Carter with a small 'umph!' Then came Daniel.

"Ahhrgh!" the man hollered softly. He also landed harshly beside Jack. "Ow." came the answer from the still linguist.

"Well, hello Danny. Like your ride?" Jack asked him sarcastically while he was still lying on the comfortable grass. "Mrph," came a muffled answer. Jack patted him on the back. "Good." He looked around at his team mates, both who were also on the ground as he was. So next came Teal'c. The big Jaffa had strong legs; no doubt either O'Neill or Daniel were to be squished or kicked, so Jack grabbed Daniel and rolled both of them to the side of the gate. Sam followed in suit. Jack didn't even see him coming. Next thing he knew, someone's legs were on top of him. "Teal'c! Geroff!" The Jaffa looked his way.

"I am sorry O'Neill," Teal'c said in hushed tones. The Stargate closed with a defiant 'shoop!' and SG-1 lay there until they could be bothered to move.

----------------------

Jack got up first with a small groan because of his aching knees. His team followed him and began to rise from the ground. When they all were up, Daniel noticed something very odd.

"Well, it looks like... well to be honest, a bunch of err... horses." It was nighttime, almost dawn on the planet. The MALP was right when it recorded golden trees, there were plenty of them. It was, so far, a magnificent planet, at night at least. Sam looked at the horses more closely and shook her head slowly.

"Not just any horses, look at this one, it's dark green with gold hooves." Teal'c also looked at the horses.

"Are not such equines common on your planet?" he asked Sam. She shook her head again in response.

"No, they're not," she answered her friend. All of them were looking around the place carefully and meticulously before they had to go anywhere. In Jack's checklist:

Get there.

Check it out.

It dangerous? It peaceful?

4. Get Daniel... strike that. Who's home?

Go in with gun and see who's home.

Why are they home and what do they know?

He looked around carefully at his surroundings, Daniel, Sam, and Teal'c did the

same. His second-in-command was checking out the military checklist of danger, Teal'c was, well, checking things out and Daniel? He was off in his own world. Jack focused to back in front of himself and jumped, startled of the thing that had appeared in front of him. SG-1 turned around and Sam and Jack both had their guns pointed at it.

"Hello," the little one said. It seemed to be a young female human. She bowed her head like a Jaffa, but she didn't seem like one. In response, Teal'c bowed his own head. Jack looked at Teal'c oddly. Then he turned to Daniel. Jack cocked his head at the linguist.

"Daniel? It's all yours." The little girl pulled back in shock. She started talking before any of them could.

"I am Freya of the Touched Chosen of Thor, out of Eytan Ryhenna of Aderyn and Daniel of Midgaard," she offered them. They were surprised to say the least. Jack pulled his head back, Carter's eyes widened, and Daniel pulled back startled and widened his eyes. Teal'c stood stoically, cocked his head, and raised the eyebrow. Daniel uttered a small, little "oh?" The sudden outburst of information surprised the group. Not all people were this... outgoing when they were met. Daniel was surprise at the use of his name the most. Was it just convenient for him to find a 'Daniel of Midgaard,' Midgaard being the name for the Norse 'Earth.' Not only that, but these people, what ever they are, worshipped Thor, maybe they could be allies.

"Um, Jack, I believe..." Daniel was cut off.

"Not now Daniel, no mythological stuff, okay?" Jack pleaded. Daniel held his tongue. The girl, Freya, looked at the bickerers and continued.

"You must be silent, but it is almost morning. Soon you will be able to talk with my parents, but you must tell me, did you come out of the Axl?" Jack looked noncommittally over his shoulder at the gate and shrugged. He looked back at his friends and they all exchanged looks. Sam finally answered the question.

"Uh, yeah, we came through the Stargate..."

---------------------------------

Freya was surprised and amused. She was amused at the looseness of their behavior when meeting her. She was surprised at the strange name that they called the Axl. She inclined her head like a confused puppy. "A Star, Gate?" she inquired slowly. Obviously the group had explained this before because the leader, Jack, went to speak.

"You know, that big, round, gray thing over there, you call it the... Daniel?"

"Axl," the other one spoke up. "By the way, I'm Daniel, this is Major Sam Carter, that's Teal'c," the Jaffa bowed his head and Daniel continued. "And that's Colonel Jack O'Neill."

Jack tipped his hat to the girl. She didn't seem all that young after all. "Pleased to meet ya," he said kindly. Suddenly, Sam belatedly remembered something quite important.

"Ah, sir? The boots?" she called his attention to the bouncing boot invention. Jack, looking inspired, cocked his head and took a single step. He felt like he was on the moon. He bounced off the ground and through the air, not high at all, but enough to notice something. The poor girl, Freya, was shocked. When Jack landed, he "hmm" ed and went to peel off the boots. The rest of the team followed in suit. Once they were done, Sam apologized for the inconvenience. Jack, being himself, apologized for the smell. At that, Freya laughed shyly. SG-1 had their guns at their sides, so they didn't scare the girl any more. Sam had a curious streak on her and asked Freya a question.

"Um, Freya? How old are you?" Daniel, Jack, and Teal'c also became interested in the discovery; apparently they'd all been thinking the same thing. Not something that happens everyday, that is.

Freya spoke proudly in her becoming an adult of the herd. "I am 12 bershs." The word was unfamiliar to the group, she figured and tried the other two words that also meant how old she was. "12 atce-moons?" They were still puzzled. "12 years?" They knew this term, though. She knew this because the thought of her being 12 rocked their steady calm. Jack pulled a highly skeptical face on her. Now she was confused again. "What is the matter, O'Neill?" she questioned.

"You're 12?" he said in a disbelieving tone. Freya could have taken offense when he said that, was she unworthy of adulthood in his eyes? She took the other approach and assumed that the group didn't know about the ritual of the Axl and the ceremonies surrounding it. She nodded strongly.

"The others went when they were fivers, but I..." she trailed off at the look on all of their faces. Jack still held the highly-skeptic look and he turned around to his teammates.

"Five?!" he squeaked. Sam and Daniel were blown away and Teal'c was also being highly skeptical. Freya decided to overlook their mild rudeness. They were nice people to deal with she'd decided. Sam thought and took a breath.

"How long is a year here?" she asked the logical question.

"Five hundred, forty-seven, point five days, major," she answered promptly. It was common knowledge to know how long the year was. The mare turned to her stallions.

"That would explain it," she mused quietly. Daniel and Teal'c seemed to understand, whereas Jack, well...

"Explains what major?" Jack inquired urgently.

"Why she looks 18 by Earth standards, sir. Our year is 365 days and an 18 year old lives 6570 days on their 18th birthday." Jack nodded, he understood, so Sam went on.

"On this planet, a 12 year old lives exactly the same amount of days an 18 year would on Earth. So she is as experienced and has experienced as many days as our 18 year old. I suggest we treat her as so, sir." Sam explained patiently. Jack nodded slowly; Sam could tell that he was going to ask another question.

"Soooo, in our years, how old is their fiver?" The smarts put behind that question surprised her. A question like that didn't come from Jack O'Neill on any old day.

"About..." Sam paused as she did the calculation in her head. "Well, they'd be older..." she mused to herself. "In our years, a five-year-old here is a seven and a half year old child on Earth."

"Oh." Daniel and Teal'c stole a look at each other. Daniel cleared his throat and moved to the front of the group. He looked at Jack carefully. Freya decided that Jack wasn't only the leader of this group, but the herd leader from where they had come from. They looked at each other. "Daniel? Is there something you want to ask me?" Jack asked all sarcasm.

Daniel cleared his throat before going on. "Jack, I'd like to see who these people are, what they do... you know," Daniel ended. Indeed Jack did know. O'Neill pat the young man on the shoulder.

"Ah yes," Jack turned to Freya. "Take me to your leader!" he proclaimed. Though Freya didn't know why the colonel had chosen that particular phrase, she understood it clearly. Off they went into the forest. Minutes later, dawn arrived in the east, through the far-off mountain range. The group paused to admire its beauty, through the dawn held a special meaning for Freya. She'd vowed that everyday she could after her ceremonies that she'd pray to the rising sun. She stopped and faced the far-off sun.

"Ni caestre eht Delh aie eht Koce. Ni mora eht Codl aie eht Dela," she whispered softly. _I give the Sun to the Night. I retire the Moon to the Day. _Jack, Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c heard the whispers.

"Daniel?" Jack whispered, fearfully of disturbing the moment. Daniel held up his hand in thought.

"No, can't think of any... I think it's a completely original language. It doesn't match any words that I can think of. She started off in Norse this time. "Now that I know. It's Norse." He stopped and attempted to translate the prayer. "I am grateful for the light of Daggri, Dawn, to shine on this first day of my marehood? Grace me now and I give my pledge to you on all further days of the Chosen's immortal lives." Freya finished and so did the monolog. He looked up to face his friends and found them in utter confusion. Daniel shrugged. "I just translate, I have no idea what that's supposed to mean." Freya knew that the one named Daniel had been providing the running translation of her prayer. She did her prayers in Common normally, but she wanted to see if this Daniel was as adept as her father. He didn't know the Ancient language, but no matter, she would take them to see her family. Freya breathed in the fresh air and turned back to the group.

"Please follow me," Freya asked politely. She took them to the spot where the elders had been resting. When they came to the resting spot, she shook her head and turned to find her brother.

-----------------------------

SG-1 had tried not to notice the amount of horses had increased since they had followed Freya to find the elders. They figured that the sleeping equines were the people's horses. When Freya went up to a group of the multi-colored horses and turned away, SG-1 had figured that she wanted to stop, grab a horse, and ride to the leader. She had decided against it because it would wake the others, it seemed reasonable. This the team agreed on wholeheartedly, sincerely hoping that these weren't her people, but that wasn't possible. It didn't mean a thing, SG-1 had seen impossible things become possible in front of them. But come on, how could a human's people possibly be a group of horses? It was put out of mind. Freya walked slowly, as if she was trying to find her horse. She found what she was looking for. A black stallion was in her path. She walked faster towards her horse and went to wake him up. The horse woke with a "humph!" Freya spoke to it soothingly. Jack and the team were talking about her name.

"She reminds me of that Tok'ra lady, Anise," O'Neill mentioned quietly.

Daniel and Sam looked at him oddly. "Why, sir?" Sam asked. Jack returned the look to Sam.

"Because one of them is named Freya, major," Jack responded causally. Daniel looked thoughtful and Jack knew a lecture was coming on.

"Jack, the name Freya is an often used Norse name. She also said 'Midgaard,'" Daniel mentioned. Jack lifted his hands in a 'what-does-that-mean' gesture.

"It means that they might be good allies," Daniel explained.

"Why Daniel?" O'Neill asked again.

Daniel sighed quietly. "Jack, the Norse gods live in the mythical place of Asgard and were known as the Aesir. Asgard was like Olympos, but Thor, the god of thunder was one of those gods. You see where I'm going with this, right?" Daniel asked O'Neill warily. Jack shrugged and took a guess.

"Allied with our buddy Thor?" he took a stab at it. Daniel nodded at him and turned to Sam and Teal'c.

"Smart man, him," he remarked sarcastically. The crooning girl's voice and stopped they noted calmly as they talked, but another voice soon joined hers. It was a slightly deeper, masculine voice, but very pleasant to listen to and... musical almost. Jack spun around, gun up, to ward off the new intruder. Sam also had up her gun and Teal'c, his staff weapon. A dark form strode out of the wood slowly. All attention was on it.

"'Ey! You, stop!" Jack called out softly to the tall form that seemed to float towards the girl. Jack raised his gun to send the threat that he might send a warning shot; of course he wouldn't because it would wake up the place. The form chuckled softly. Freya finally got to act.

"Don't, that's my brother, Starglyph," she said. Jack relaxed, but never lowered his gun.

"Please lower your weapons, Colonel O'Neill. I am Starglyph of the Chosen Touched of Thor, out of Eytan Ryhenna of Aderyn and Daniel of Midgaard," the form kneeled at Jack's feet, the rising sun revealed Freya's brother to be a black stallion, the same one that SG-1 had thought was her mount. Sam lowered her P-90 in sheer disbelief of the situation. A **horse** was **talking** to **her**. Jack also lowered his gun and cocked his head. Teal'c's eyes widened, but he never lost his aim. Now Daniel heard his name again and reacted, sort of. Before coming out of his temporary shock, he and the rest of the team gaped at the siblings. _That's just wrong_, Daniel thought to himself, but Jack had no such compunctions.

"That's plain wrong!" he protested. He spun around; looking at each of his teammates, then went back to Freya. "Are there any other humans here?" he asked warily.

Freya shook her head. "I am the only one, the one human born on this planet, I am told, ever born here. You are the second, third, fourth, and fifth humans to ever set foot on this planet. Teal'c noticed that Jack and Sam had lowered their weapons and lowered his as well. Daniel came forward with his rehearsed speech.

"I'm Dr. Jackson, this is Major..." he was cut off.

"I know Daniel Jackson, so I have heard," Starglyph inserted. Daniel mouthed an "oh" and wait for the next cue. "But I am pleased to meet all of you," the stallion ended. He bowed his great black head demurely. Teal'c followed protocol and responded with a deep head bow of his own. Carter's interest was piqued and she had to know something.

"Uh, Starglyph, exactly how old are you? Because I know that on our own planet, horses reach their peak age at, what? Five years of age?" She spun to Daniel to verify this, assuming that Jack knew almost nothing about horses, but he surprised her again.

"Yeah, something like that," the colonel responded. Sam mentally shook her head, that man never ceased to amaze her.

The horse chuckled. "Please, call me Star and I'm thirteen years old. One year older than my sister here." The horse cocked his head, an interesting look one might say. Star had a question of his own regarding Sam's question. "What is a horse?" The group looked amazed at the question. How could a horse not know he was a horse, unless that wasn't they're name for themselves.

Teal'c spoke up this time. "What do you call yourselves?"

"We call ourselves the Chosen or the Touched Chosen, but this is only our name. We are known to others outside the Valley as _Dahlia_, meaning those from the valley," he answered the question gracefully. "Is this what you mean Teal'c?"

Teal'c never learned how to be blunt, apparent from his response. "No. This is not what I mean." Star pulled back a little, slightly startled by the strong response.

Jack apologized, sort of. "Hey, it takes a while to get used to the man. What is the name for all of you, is what I think we mean, right?" Sam and Daniel nodded. Star and his sister looked even more confused.

"I have told you, we are the Chosen Ones," he replied again. So Sam tried to put it in simpler terms.

"You are the Chosen and you said that the _others_ call you the Dahlia."

"That is correct," Star intoned.

"Who are the others? Are they other tribes, herds, nations?" Sam inquired slowly and thoughtfully. Freya nodded, but Star answered.

"Yes, there are other herds. For instance, the Arabe, the Quoi, the Odyssi far to the west, and the Valae," he said the last herd's name with an angry passion. Daniel decided to ask about them later. "Is this how it is where you are from, Major Carter?" Star queried.

"Sort of. See we have nations, North Americans, South Americans, Europeans, Asians, Africans, Australians..."

"Get to the point major," Jack feared a prolonged speech on politics. Carter nodded and continued.

"In these continents, we have states or countries, each one of the countries has its own nationality. We, Daniel, Colonel O'Neill, and I are North Americans, but more specifically we are Americans. Yet on Earth, all people that look like Freya, me, the colonel, Daniel, and even Teal'c are called humans, this is our collective name. I am a human, Daniel is a human, Freya is a human. Do you see my point Star?" Sam finished carefully, hoping that the stallion and his sister understood. Star nodded, he looked like he had been enlightened.

"Yes, you are asking if we, not just the Chosen, but all the herds have a collective name, because on the outside, we are all the same, correct?" Sam nodded enthusiastically. They'd understood! "My father, Daniel," he started as he inclined his head towards the human Daniel, "said that long ago, before the group split into tribes that we had one common name. This is no longer used to my knowledge; either that or it is an uncommon word. Collectively we are the _Berah_ – in Common, the spirited ones. Nowadays, we would not say, 'We are _Berah_, I am _Dahlia_' as you would say, 'We are human, I am American.' Do you see? All of our people are not united because of the length of our lives," Star started to explain, but his sister, Freya, cut him off.

"Star," she started in English and remembered the guests and resumed in Ancient. "Tei na xitu le cosa. Aetho nasya!" _You can't say this stuff. It's forbidden!_ Freya protested loudly. SG-1 was ignoring them at the moment. Siblings fight, it was normal. The group circled up to talk together.

"I can't believe he remembered my explanation of the nationalities of Earth!" Sam exclaimed quietly. Jack gave a 'what's-with-that' gesture to Sam.

"It's a horse, Carter!" he pointed out needlessly.

"A very smart... horse, Jack. You ought to start treating it like one. And the stallion has a sex and name, you know," Daniel pointed out to Jack.

"I know that. It's kinda uncomfortable giving a talking horse a name and a sex. I mean, you give horses names and sexes, but do you really expect the horse to answer ya?"

"Mister Ed had a name," Daniel muttered.

"Except everyone can hear this Mister Ed," Sam concluded. Teal'c just accepted the fact that Mister Ed was probably another one of those T.V. shows and that Mister Ed was some kind of animal, probably a horse, that happened to talk. So Teal'c lifted his head and tilted it sideways. Jack caught the movement.

"Mister Ed, T.V. show, was a talking horse that only his owner could hear," he informed Teal'c. In return, Teal'c raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Great show that... ah, so! Anyone know what they're talking about?" Daniel asked his teammates. They stared at him funnily. He lifted his arms in the air. "What?" he asked sarcastically. Most of them assumed that if Daniel didn't know what the two were saying, then no one probably knew what it was either. Jack vocalized his thoughts anyway.

"Daniel, you're the linguist. You have no idea what so ever of what they're saying?"

"Right," Daniel said half-cheerfully. He waited too long to do this to poor Jack.

"So what you're saying is that those two could very easily be discussing our demise and we'd never know about it. Am I right Daniel?" Jack glanced at the siblings nervously.

"Yup!" Daniel said this time way too cheerfully. Jack punched the man a little harder than a playful punch. His excuse, if anyone asked, was that he was getting the cheerfulness out of Daniel.

"Seriously, Daniel. I'm trying to make a threat assessment here," he threatened the other man slightly. The grin fell away from Daniel's face almost as fast as it had come on.

"Sorry Jack, had to. But, seriously? I have no idea what they're talking about. This sounds like the language Freya used before. It seems to be an almost completely original language, except for the use of a couple Spanish words here and there and a little bit of... Latin even." Daniel was confused; it was an original language and whether or not those recognizable words meant what they did on Earth. But why such words would be on a completely different planet system than the planets on the Abydos cartouche, boggled his mind. It was expected that the planets on the Ancient database would have a different language because unlike the Goa'uld planets, these people weren't brought from ancient Earth and might not speak English. Or any of the other Earth languages.

"What kind of words Daniel?" Sam asked quietly.

"I don't know if they mean the same, but it's the same pronunciation. The words I've picked up are _cosa_ – 'thing' in Spanish, _le_ – French or Italian, _euge_ – 'good' in Latin, as you might remember... um... _arble_ – kinda sounds like 'tree' in French, _arbre_, _ayudo_ is 'I help' in Spanish, their _kwoi _sounds like _quae_ – 'what' in Latin, but that's all I think. Wait... _con,_ that's 'with' in Spanish," Daniel finished translating to the group and started to mutter to himself a bit. "Why are they in there? That's not really possible, is it? Unless..." Daniel sputtered a bit with a revolutionary idea. Jack tilted his head in pretense interest.

"To tell Danny," he said with light sarcasm. Daniel began to pace back and forth in the limited space.

"What if the Ancients not only came to Earth to help and be kindred spirits, but actually took humans, healed them or something, and transported them to another planet for the person's sake or to keep them safe from the Gould. I can't think of any other reason why the Ancient planets would speak English or in their **own** language have other Earth words in them," Daniel enunciated at a speed that only he could manage. Sam turned to him, completely understanding what Daniel had to say.

"I see your point, but you said before, when we first discovered the gate was made by the Ancients, that there were records of 'the builders of roads' meaning the Ancient Ones. What happened to those?" Sam wanted to know. Jack was grateful that his 2IC didn't say "the first time the colonel got downloaded" or something like that.

"Records can be falsified Sam. Just like in Egypt, they had records, but none of them said that there was ever a Stargate or that the Gould were attacking them. All they said was that the 'gods' were simply there and that the gate wasn't. But what if those people that the Ancients took, never brought the people back, but instead made real life, interactable holograms, or better yet, they only took orphans and people that no one really cared about. Or made sick ones ascend and spread from there," Daniel bubbled on happily. Sam nodded, intrigued.

"It does seem feasible sir," she told O'Neill. "The Ancients may have taken people so that the Goa'uld couldn't get to all of the people or planets." Jack nodded, sort of sorrowfully.

"Here I thought they were such good guys...," he muttered aloud.

"They were, sir. They took people that were suffering or had no one to go to and took them to a better place to start life over again. I'd say that's a better life than being someone lower than a slave in that era sir," Sam concluded.

"Excuse me," the voice that belonged to Star loomed over Daniel's shoulder. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything," he apologized graciously. Jack shook his head.

"Just planning to take over the world, that's all..." he muttered. If Star and Freya heard it, they gave no indications of doing so.

Star continued. "After much bickering, my sister and I have decided to break the rule and continue from where I left off about our kind, the Chosen. We've decided that we won't cause chaos just yet by revealing you to the rest of the herd. They won't worry about us because today, the day after Freya's adulthood ceremony, the leave the fivers to roam around the Grove. Or sleep," he chuckled in his peculiar way. "Though, at about noon, Freya must leave us to receive her golden acorn necklace."

Daniel leaned towards his teammates. "In Norse mythology, acorns are sacred of Thor and represent good health and immortality," he speed-mumbled this piece of info.

"As I was saying before, we are not a united people because of the different lengths of our lives. For instance the Chosen and our long-standing friends, the Odyssi, are _akuiin_, how would you say it in Common? Extremely long-lived, doesn't die?"

"Immortal?" Daniel supplied the wanted answer.

"Yes, Immortal. The Chosen and Odyssi are an Immortal race. And Immortal in the true sense. We do not die if we are speared on the battleground." Sam had her mouth and her eyes wide open as if she'd never heard of it before, but of course, she'd never seen it either. Daniel was mildly surprised, as if he'd seen weirder things than a talking Immortal stallion with a human as a sister. Teal'c was also surprised. The way he held himself and the extreme raising of the eyebrow indicated that he too had never seen such a thing. And Jack... well, Jack was Jack.

"Uh, excuse me, but what's that supposed to mean? Like you get shot, ya look at it, shrug and keep goin'?" he communicated extravagantly before realizing that horses couldn't exactly shrug. Star snorted in amusement at the question, or perhaps at the preciseness of the question.

"We do 'die' in a sense. The body shuts down and we regenerate what parts have been compromised," the black stallion explained. Jack looked curiously at his firearm. Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c looked at him suspiciously, like he was going to pull off some dumb stunt on the Chosen's immortality. Star and Freya noticed this subtle shift in attention as well. The horse cocked his head and sneezed. Freya asked the looming question.

"What do those logs that you carry do?" she pondered for her and her brother's sake. Jack held up his P-90 and shook it slightly, as if to show it off.

"This is a weapon or war. It fires out things called bullets at an extremely fast speed. They come out of here," Jack pointed at the muzzle of the gun. O'Neill had made sure that the safeties were on and holding, to prevent a misfire. The colonel started to pull out his handgun, casually wipe it down for fingerprints, and put on a silencer. "This," he waved his handgun, "is called a Beretta, it is a handgun. It works the same way as this one, the P-90. This long thing that I've attached to the end is called a silencer. It prevents the pistol from making the extremely loud noise that it does. It is also a weapon of war." Jack spun to look the horse straight in the eye. "This means that it can also kill very easily. Would you terribly mind a demonstration?" Star bowed his head imperceptibly.

"Actually, I'm inviting you to show a demonstration of this killing device, if it should prove something to you and your people, colonel," the stallion invited kindly. Jack loaded a bullet into the chamber and fired off one single, fatal shot to the heart. The proud stallion muffled a high whinny and collapsed to the cold, hard ground, dead. Freya had never seen a device even close to the killing power of this one that the colonel still held. She had seen the herd members die from a spear from the kiril, but they'd never died this fast and painlessly. She assumed that her brother's body took so long in recovering because the shot was extremely destructive in his body.

"Jack, you killed him," Daniel stated mildly. Jack threw him a 'duh!' look.

"He's immortal, didn't ya listen?" Jack retorted.

"Sir, what if he can't recover from the injuries that bullets cause?" Sam voiced her worries.

Fin Part 1

Just for your info, if you do want to read the Cursed Blessing go to  You'll find it there.


	2. How to activate a Stargate and friendshi...

Jack looked at her 2IC nervously, as did the rest of his team and Freya. He suspected that Freya was royally pissed off now. Sam got down next to the horse, trying to find where a horse's pulse is. At the touch of her hands, Star laugh-whinnied. Sam was startled for a second and remembered that the horse was Immortal. The proud, jet-black stallion shook himself and stood up. Freya walked back to his side, a loving sister. The relief poured out of her. Star eyed the colonel slyly.

"Does that prove your point, or my point colonel?" he asked with a hint of a chuckle buried in his words. Jack nodded dumbly as Carter launched into a scientific speech.

"Sir, do you realize what this means? This shatters the medical society in the search for immortality. But to find a species that already is Immortal is astonishing!" Sam rambled almost as dumbly as Jack looked, but he snapped out of it.

"Carter? What did I mention to you about techno-babble before we left?" Jack told her off. Carter looked at him.

"Uh, you didn't sir. Were you supposed to?" she asked. Jack nodded.

"No techno-babble, there now I've said it." Jack paused as he thought. "This is like the time I ordered you to get a life, isn't it?" he pondered wondrously.

Sam nodded with a smile on her face. "Yes sir, I suppose it is." Daniel and Teal'c looked at the two knowingly. Freya managed to develop the blank look on her face, a poker face if you will. Jack looked slightly a taken back at the immediate acceptance of his proposal. Normally, the major would have smiled and stayed silent. Jack was happy though, but no one could know that, on the risk of losing his military career. It was one of the many signs that showed the colonel that his Sam was changing to be…looser, if you will. Daniel smiled inwardly at his friend's response. He also knew what Jack was thinking, of course. Teal'c, however, looked like he didn't want to know the pair. Star smiled in the way he could. Daniel noticed this and almost stared outright, a horse smiling… huh. Carter and the team turned back to their hosts politely. Jack was surprised, still, that the horse wanted him to shoot him. O'Neill had felt bad; he'd killed an animal for a demonstration. Then the stallion arose, perfectly fine with what he'd done. Star lay down again to finish the story of his people. Jack, Sam, and Teal'c preferred to stand, but Daniel, always wanting to make a good impression, sat along with Star's sister. So the rest of the team followed slowly. Daniel had a question ready as he sat.

"How long do the other herds live?" he wondered. Star thought carefully.

"The herds range from a normal life, about 20 years, to roughly 150 years, I believe is the oldest among the others," Star informed Daniel. "Does this answer your question, Dr. Jackson?" Daniel nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, please call me Daniel," he answered. Star gracefully accepted this. Sam wasn't listening carefully to what was being said. Though it was terribly fascinating, she was focusing on the immortality point. If she could possibly bring back one of the Chosen, possibly Freya and/or Star since they already knew them, then she could study why the Chosen were Immortal and why Earthlings weren't. No doubt Star and his sister were important to the community, but would the others let them go back to Earth? Jack noticed Sam's sudden obsession with the ground and called her out of it.

"Carter!" he said sharply. The voice permeated through her scientific fog and brought her back to reality. She looked up and noticed that all the company was looking at her. She blushed slightly knowing that she'd been ignoring all of them, including the hosts.

"Sorry sir, I was thinking about the possibilities of this on Earth, that's all," she apologized and smiled weakly. Jack gave her a curious little look.

"Oh, well then, stop it, for now. We've gotta listen to what they can give us," Jack mock ordered. She nodded and chuckled. Freya and Star looked at each other again. Sam was about to ask something when a beautiful chorus rang out from the area of the gate. It sounded like human singing, but it was accompanied with the essence of a horse whinny. Immediately, SG-1 knew that this was probably the 'elders' that Star had had been speaking about. They listened in awe of the beauty of the harmony. There must have been six, maybe seven voices down there, all singing a different note and it changed. The song weaved in and out like a Celtic knot. Starglyph raised his head to listen too, but it held a different meaning for Freya and him. He turned to her and she, to him. Star had been with her almost all the way and now she was almost as nervous as she was when she had to finally do the Awakening at the Axl. Now, though, she was not only filled with fear, but also she was happily anxious. Freya was going to be a full mare of the herd. Star nodded reassuringly to her. Star had always calmed her. Freya strengthened her resolve and stood up. All the humans, from Earth, had been listening intently to the singing, but now Freya and her brother caught their eye. Daniel noticed the girl was shaking like a leaf, but she was happy. Freya breathed in slowly and exhaled. The two didn't acknowledge SG-1, they were in their own little world, their ritual held virtually no meaning for the team. Freya turned towards the singing and walked to it. Star and SG-1 stood up to watch her go. Down in the clearing, about 12 young horses had assembled in front of the elders and the singing increased ten-fold. Even another part was added because of a couple extra females. The song was even more beautiful than Star remembered and it held great meaning for him, just as taps or the national anthem did for Americans in times of need. It evoked the same feelings in the Chosen as those songs did Americans. Teal'c also felt the significance of the ceremony, for he had something similar back on Chulak for those of great bravery. As the song rose to its climax, the team stood with their hands clasped behind their backs. It was a beautiful sight with the sun at its peak shining down through the trees and off the golden trees. The song started getting quieter as the younger horses started to drop out and trickle off to a tree. All that was left was elders singing after all the youngsters had gone to a tree. Star knew what was to happen next. When he had told SG-1 that for the first half of the day, the members of the herd rested, he hadn't told the whole truth. In fact, the first half of the day was spent reflecting on which necklace or tree drew the young one to it. A tree had to choose the horse. After the song, the horse was drawn to a specific tree and off dropped a necklace. This process could take a while, however. When all the fivers were under their tree, the elders dropped out as well. The beautiful music echoed through the forest before completely disappearing. A few well chosen words were said in an arcane language by a dark blue, silver maned beauty, who Star knew better as Amon, the Sage of the herd. The language in which she spoke was so ancient and rooted in music that even Daniel of Midgaard, didn't know it. Amon spoke the holy words.

"De vijand van mijn vijand is mijn vriend, voor wanneer wij groeien, zullen wij de vriend op alle manieren helpen," she called out for all to hear. Star dare not tell the group that no one could understand the ancient, magical language. Evident to SG-1, it was as well, all the horses and Freya held looks of misunderstanding. They had no idea what Amon was saying. Daniel let out a small "oh!" He recognized the language; he'd spoken it once with a young Dr. Catherine Langford in New York in 1969. SG-1 looked at him in wonder, he didn't recognize the other language, but he knew this one? Daniel was bewildered; the horses down there didn't know _Dutch_?? It was evident to him that, to them, this was an ancient language that only the female saying it knew what it meant. Daniel snapped out of it and provided an instant translation.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." At this first part, the team looked at him and back at the horses with a curious look on their faces. "For when we grow, we shall help the friend in all ways." The speaking stopped as Amon paused to think about the next part. She continued in a language that only Star and Freya, of this group, would understand. "Mai tout nous représentons bon, et pouvons tout, Choisi ou pas, reçoivent à ce qu'elles étaient destinées." It was a fluting, soft language unlike the slightly guttural language of the Dutch. Daniel continued to translate again. "May all we do represent good, and may all, Chosen or not, receive what they were destined for." The French was recognized by Sam as well as Star and Freya. Star was confused, why had Amon changed the ritual sayings? That was something to think about. At this, the necklaces started to drop onto the youngsters necks. Jack assumed that the horses were rubbing up against the tree branches or something to make the vines drop off. Star turned away from the clearing in thought. The team caught this movement and Jack cocked his head to indicate that maybe they should follow him. So they did. Star hunkered down back in the soft grass to think.

"Star," Sam asked, "what was that supposed to mean?" Daniel was curious as well.

"We've heard that before, remember guys? The giant aliens in the cavern on…P7X-377," Daniel pointed out. Sam picked up on something.

"Wasn't that in Hindu, Daniel?" she wanted to know. Daniel nodded and Sam looked confused. Why were the same words used here? This planet was becoming one of many mysteries. Jack was sitting on a rock nearby, Teal'c stood next to him. Daniel was on the ground again and next to Carter. Jack stood up and clapped his hands together.

"Well! After this ceremony thing, we should report to Hammond and Carter, you can tell him about the immortal thingy."

"Immortality sir."

"Right, Danny, you can tell him about the language thing that's going on and Teal'c and I will stand around and pretend to know what the hell you're all talking about. How's that?" Teal'c raised an eyebrow, Sam nodded, and Daniel stared at him. "Okay then!" Jack ended cheerfully. Star raised his head.

"Wait, you can't go yet. The elders have yet to meet you," he protested quietly. Sam did the liberty of explaining this all to the stallion.

"Star, you see, all we're going to do is turn on the Stargate, Axl, and talk through it using these," she pointed to the radio on her shoulder. "Then the Axl disengages and we're still here. Simple as that," Sam finished.

"Exactly what she said, simple as that," Jack echoed from his perch back on the rock. "Good job Carter."

"Thank you sir."

Now Star was confused. "What do you mean turn on the Axl, major? How can you do that?" Daniel looked up at his friends from under his glasses and Sam, Jack and him exchanged looks. Teal'c offered an explanation.

"By means of a dial home device, we shall activate the Stargate again," he said stoically. Star cocked his head. He had no clue what a 'dial-home-device' was.

"It's a circular thing on a pedestal and its got thirty…" Daniel looked for help.

"Six," Carter said.

"Right, thirty-six little symbols on it and if you push them in the right order the Stargate…"

"Flooshes," Jack finished triumphantly for Daniel.

"Right, flooshes." Star now looked apprehensive about the idea.

"If you come with us, you can see the whole thing," Sam offered mistaking Star's emotion.

"You cannot do this while the group is here," the black stallion informed them.

"Why not?" Jack asked sarcastically. Star looked at him.

"Because the Axl only turns on when we arrive," Star said, but he knew better. Star knew that Amon ran down to the Axl every year to turn it on with her magic; no one else could do this. To do so was against the gods will. The black stallion was not a religious horse, but his belief in going against the gods was strong enough where he wouldn't dare do this. Problem was, now the group of humans had wet his curiosity of the Axl or the Stargate as they called it. He was supposed to be the next Hakan, even though he didn't believe it, but maybe he could bend the law slightly because, supposedly, the gods favored him. He looked back at the group with a light in his eyes. Sam had been about to say that he didn't have to come and violate his beliefs, but she stayed quiet when she saw the light in his eyes turn on. He was coming.

"I'm coming, but only after the whole ceremony is done," Star made sure of this fact. Jack nodded.

"Done, glad to have ya along. Star," he added.

* * *

More comin' your way... I promise! 


End file.
